The present invention is directed to a positive displacement shoe and slat sorter and in particular to a technique for easily removing and attaching slats to wheel assemblies.
Positive displacement sorters include a large number of generally parallel slats and wheel assemblies connected to opposite ends of the slats to hold the slats together in a web and to allow the web to travel under a motive force. The wheel assemblies may include covers, known as cap angles, in order to allow articles to be diverted off of the sorter without contacting the wheel assemblies. Some installations also include guards to restrict articles from falling off of the sorter in the case of a jamb condition.
The presence of cap angles, guards, and the like, make it cumbersome to remove a slat, such as to replace a pusher shoe, access the interior of the sorter, or the like. Therefore, proposals have been made to provide a slat-mounting arrangement that allows removal and reattachment of the slats with respect to the wheel assemblies without the need to remove the cap angle and/or the guards.